Kabootle Ranch!! UPDATE

[Laura's Babies]

Guess where I have the chance to go NEXT week end? :eek: The lady that has helped me so much with the cats here in the neighborhood and Caramella and another one that work with her are taking 18 cats to Kabootle Ranch next week end!

When she told me there were taking cats to Kabootle Ranch I had a FIT!! I think it suprised her that I even knew about that place but anyone who loves cats knows about it, right?! I was just having FITS and she asked me if I wanted to go with them... Said they will drive down one day and come back the next with as few stops as possiable going and coming, staying overnight in a motel.. I laughed and told her I never even dreamed I would know someone personally that went much less have the chance to go myself and that would be a dream come true to actually experince it myself.... but I would have to think about it.. YIKES!! Can you believe THAT? I have the chance to go!!!!!

She said she was going to take her camera and take tons of pictures so if I didn't go, I could see the pictures instead... WOW!!

[Abby&Buddy'sMom]

You should go!! It looks like a really amazing place. I follow The Caboodle Ranch on facebook. If you choose to go, please take lots of pictures:) I saw on their facebook page kitties that loooked just like my 2 kits.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Wow! That would be a great experience if you decide to go.:)

[Freedom]

That would be a terrific experience! I hope things work out so you can go.

[kitten645]

You MUST go and report back!
Claudia

[catmandu]

I wish I could go there with a big bag full of Awesome Animal Association Mice!!
I would toss them around and watch all the Cats having the time of their life:love::love:
We are praying that you take and post lots of photos Aunt Laura :love::love::love:

[Laura's Babies]

Kabootle Ranch trip has been cancelled.. They have found out that the Kabootle Ranch is no longer what it appears to be online and they were told "Before you take ANY cats down there, you BEST go visit FIRST and see for yourself the deplorable conditions there!"... Having it shutdown is in the works.. :(

[mrspunkysmom]

Oh No! Such a great idea. I did wonder how he kept the place so clean with all those cats. I was hoping for a miracle.

[Catty1]

Oh no...I suspect he got inundated with cats after getting more famous and didn't say "no"...as is the case with so many other sanctuaries...:(

I hope the cats there are all right and get safely to good homes.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'm so sorry to hear this.:(

[sasvermont]

I have spent hours pouring over the internet information for Cabootles Ranch. The below link on facebook is about one volunteer with her beefs about the Ranch. She, single handedly, has created a big window of concern. I think, with all things considered, she is in it for attention only. That's my opinion, being based on what is being shown on Cabootles' website.

All the cats in here were scheduled to be part of the food chain or less. They seem to be healthy and very happy.

Here is the link to the beefs (note that there are two parts and the girl takes a LONG time to get to the point:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbcmKnInuQk&feature=related

I encourage anyone interested, to look at many of the videos and photos. Of course the place is not perfect, but hey, the cats shown, and there are many, seem HAPPY!

[Laura's Babies]

As was suggested to my group, anyone thinking about taking cats there should go vist first and see for themselves if it still is as it is presented and make their decision from there. That is what they were told to go check it out before we took all those cats down there and then decide if they still wanted to take them.

[lvpets2002]

:) Laura now Online its Spelled Cabootle Ranch = Is this the same one that your spelling Kabootle?? Now their web page is pretty nice.. MMmm I am sad that it is so bad there & no go for the trip.. Well lets me go read somemore on that web site.. Ok I just read somemore on their web page as Cabootle Ranch & they updated as of today saying they are going strong.. They also have note to be on Animal Planet with a showing in January 2011 = called = Must Love Cats..


Kabootle Ranch trip has been cancelled.. They have found out that the Kabootle Ranch is no longer what it appears to be online and they were told "Before you take ANY cats down there, you BEST go visit FIRST and see for yourself the deplorable conditions there!"... Having it shutdown is in the works.. :(

[katladyd]

I did some extensive research last night on the web and found out that these allegations were brought on by a disgruntled former volunteer. The Kaboodle Ranch has been checked out thoroughly following these accusations and was given a great rating. It was found the 80% of the cats there were in fantastic shape! 10% were new cats who were in pretty bad shape but were being caged in a compound until they could be brought up to snuff and then released into the general population. The last 10% were cats that were ill and in their form of infirmary. These were cats that had developed illnesses any cat might get because of age or a progressive condition. Overall, the ranch got high marks by the inspectors.:) I can't believe someone would spread lies about such a wonderful man and his ranch for kitties.:mad:

[Randi]

I think, with all things considered, she is in it for attention only.I agree with you. I watched the video and also a few others from Caboodle Ranch.

I've seen the place before and I'm sure Craig is doing all he can to help these kitties live a happy and healthy life. To me, they don't seem to suffer.

OK, that many cats in one place might not be perfect, but they all have houses, food and vet care, so considering the alternative, he's done quite well helping all these abandoned kitties. :)

[lvpets2002]

:) I feel like Craig does a great job with this many cats.. Now I wonder where all the money does come from for the feedings & vet care.. You know it cost alot to do.. I am guessing with Donations..

[sasvermont]

My understanding is that Craig leases his land to the Ranch and (the cats and) the lease is paid by donations. Craig lives there, with the cats, in a make shift trailer/office/home.

As you can see in the pictures, the cats live in little houses and have 30 acres to roam.

One of the gripes this volunteer had was that Craig did not try to rehome any cats. Well, when you get into that, it means you have to do home visits and run checks etc. It seems to me, these cats are at their last and final destination. There are plenty of cats trying to find homes. I did wonder about that aspect of the rescue not making adoptions available, but now that I think about it, how can one person do all of the care AND find homes for cats.

They do have some required shots before you can drop off cats.

Anyway, I think the fact that all of these cats stay there until the end, may put off some folks from dropping their cats off there.........but not totally, or Craig wouldn't have 500 cats. By the way, I didn't see that many cats in the photos, so there must be other places they hang out.

I hope everyone listens to and watches the Youtube video of the woman complaining about how the Ranch is being run. It might educate you a little more about how the place is run. I don't agree with the woman's opinion.

[kitten645]

As a long time and respected member of PT, I trust Sas and her research and opinion. Make your own decision but consider hers. Thanks for following up Sas. There are alot of personalities out there. We can't always agree but I think we all agree it's about the animals. Bottom line.

[mrspunkysmom]

SAS thanks for the update. Appreciate the effort and it's nice to know this might be a case of sour apples.

[Freedom]

Thought I'd update this thread re Caboodle Ranch.

Sadly, one person can NOT care for 500 cats. PETA did an investigation, took video; now officials have taken over the cats and the man, Craig, has been charged with cruelty.

WARNING: The video on this link is VERY disturbing and upsetting. The photo at the top of the page will make you cringe. I could not find a way to read the article without the pics and had to stop.

http://www.peta.org/features/caboodle-cat-ranch.aspx?PageIndex=3#comments

[Laura's Babies]

I watched the video and I can't tell you how hard I cried, I am still crying. This just breaks my heart...for all the cats that have suffered there, the loss of a wonferful place that was started with good intentions... It was a beautiful idea that turned into a nightmare for many beautiful babies.. This is just heartbreaking!

I knew we had a good source that warned us about taking those cats down there and it was not just a disgruntled former volunteer, but I still had hope that things would turn around.

[mrspunkysmom]

http://www.aspca.org/news/700-cats-pulled-from-florida-sanctuary-this-week

[pomtzu]

Thought I'd update this thread re Caboodle Ranch.

Sadly, one person can NOT care for 500 cats. PETA did an investigation, took video; now officials have taken over the cats and the man, Craig, has been charged with cruelty.

WARNING: The video on this link is VERY disturbing and upsetting. The photo at the top of the page will make you cringe. I could not find a way to read the article without the pics and had to stop.

http://www.peta.org/features/caboodle-cat-ranch.aspx?PageIndex=3#comments

I had seen the documentary about this place on Animal Planet some time ago and was quite in awe of the whole operation. I had no idea that there was a problem with it. After reading this post, I chose not to watch the video, so I don't really know what happened, and I guess I really don't want to know either, since it sounds pretty darn bad. Good intentions gone wrong, it would seem. That's sad....:(

[sallyandsnowx]

Words can not express the feelings I felt after watching the video. :( Absolutely heartbreaking. I've never heard of Caboodle Ranch so I decided to go on their website, could of fooled me! I guess it just started out as a wonderful thing, but turned out to be too much. God Bless these poor kitties. I hope they get a second chance at finding loving homes. :(

[mrspunkysmom]

Words can not express the feelings I felt after watching the video. :( Absolutely heartbreaking. I've never heard of Caboodle Ranch so I decided to go on their website, could of fooled me! I guess it just started out as a wonderful thing, but turned out to be too much. God Bless these poor kitties. I hope they get a second chance at finding loving homes. :(

My link is the documentary but about the ASPCA pulling the kitties. It's a short article with a list of organizations that are helping them treat the cats. There is a video but it doesn't load automatically.


ASPCA pulls 700 cats from Caboodle Ranch. (http://www.aspca.org/news/700-cats-pulled-from-florida-sanctuary-this-week)

[sallyandsnowx]

My link is the documentary but about the ASPCA pulling the kitties. It's a short article with a list of organizations that are helping them treat the cats. There is a video but it doesn't load automatically.


ASPCA pulls 700 cats from Caboodle Ranch. (http://www.aspca.org/news/700-cats-pulled-from-florida-sanctuary-this-week)

I just read this as well. Thank God they rescued those poor babies. :love: :(

[Catty1]

Thank God they are saving them! RIP to those who didn't survive. :(:love:

[Freedom]

Thanks for adding the ASPCA update. Wow, they have a LOT of groups helping. Well, with 700 cats, I guess you have to ask for help! Craig didn't do that. Also mentions he had no adoption program in place. AND NO SPAY / NEUTER PROGRAM?! omg

Prayers for those kitties to all find good homes. Says most of them crave human contact which is in their favor.

I also did not watch the vid on the ASPCA link.

[CultureJunky]

I posted about this place on my facebook page. I found out about the case from a peta thread on FB. About two years ago there was an article in Your Cat magazine ( A british cat magazine) that I subscribe to. Just one page, talking about Kaboodle Ranch and how great it was. I do believe it started out that way. Then literally about two weeks ago i was watching repeats of Must Love Cats on animal planet and it was featured on there. It looked well kept, the cats all looked healthy, well fed, happy. I was watching with my parents and was saying I wanted to visit this place one day. Then last week I saw the PETA article on their website about how it had been investigated for animal cruelty. I was absolutely gobsmacked because the pictures and footage on there was completely different from what appeared on the Must Love Cats programme.
I do feel sorry for the founder, because I think he started out with a wonderful concept and idea, and is obviously a cat lover and wanted to do something good for them. He obviously got too overwhelmed, took any cats that came along and just seriously let it get out of hand. I don't think of him as being cruel as such, and I don't think the neglect was intentional. It's not the same as someone who say kills or tortures an animal on purpose. I really don't think he meant for any of this to happen. I think i feel sorry for the human involved as well as the cats. He obviously needs some kind of help mentally, some kind of counselling. It would be kind of sad if he becomes known as somebody who 'hurt' animals. Because I don't think he ever did, not intentionally.
I've found this whole thing really upsetting, and shocking. It's just so so sad. :(

[MoonandBean]

The ASPCA posted a video yesterday on FB; they are having 3 adoption events for some of the cats:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUAcGrr0jYc

P.S...the video shows a few cats that are thin,etc...but I did not find the video painful to watch, especially since I know what has happened.